Griffin

Griffin. . , Daniel Griffin , The second owner of the mansion was Daniel Griffin, an Irish engineer who immigrated to the United States to build railroads. Griffin also served as chief construction engineer of the Monroe Railroad, that in 1848 connected Macon with Forsyth., In 1839, Daniel Griffin married Narcissa Powers in Monroe, Georgia. She died in 1844, and Daniel then married her sister Mary Elizabeth Powers in 1848., Griffin was a major investor in Georgia stagecoach lines and later in the telegraph line being built between Washington and New Orleans. His investment in the latter enterprise in 1848 ensured that the line ran through Columbus. In the following year, Griffin became the first president of the "Southern Telegraph Company"., As president of the Muscogee Railroad in 1851, Griffin was instrumental in Columbus gaining its first railroad. With Columbus being the approximate halfway travel point between Washington and New Orleans at that time, it was an ideal location for Griffin and his wife to reside., He purchased this riverfront mansion from John Silas Calhoun in 1848, and the Griffins began work on an expansion plan for their new home. The mansion and its gardens were the northernmost location of what Columbusites called the Golden Row, a line of grand riverfront homes extending southward from this mansion along Broad and Front Streets. Some local sources credit Griffin with designing the third story details of this house. Given his European background, he might well have added the Mansard roof and the iron cresting in the currently popular French style. Griffin and his wife certainly were the ones who created an extensive European-style garden, which stepped down from the house to the Chattahoochee River. The garden was surrounded by a high brick wall, with low brick walls between the terraces planted with shrubs, fruit trees, and flowers. Round brick outbuildings punctuating the garden served as gazebos, tool sheds, playhouses, and servants quarters., In 1856, Griffin moved to Washington for business reasons and sold the house to Randolph Lawler Mott, but he continued to include Columbus in his business activities. From 1864 until 1866, he was a director of the Mobile and Girard Railroad. In that capacity he probably negotiated a construction contract with Horace King, the noted African American bridge builder, to construct the railroad's bridge span across the Chattahoochee River behind the Columbus Iron Works. Griffin was also a director of the local Georgia Home Insurance Company and was president of the Bank of Columbus when he died in 1866., Daniel and Mary Griffin are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia., Their daughters continued the local family heritage each playing an important role in the civic life of Columbus. Miss Anna Griffin was elected to the city commission in 1921, and served a single term. More than 50 years would pass before another woman served in that capacity. Miss Theresa Griffin founded the local chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and then served as the first society and women's news editor for the Columbus Enquirer., Caption , Daniel Griffin · Mary Griffin , Photograph courtesy of Katherine Carrison Hager and Jane Carrison Bockel daughters of Henry George Carrison, great nephew of Daniel Griffin and Mary Powers Griffin